Alain Braconnier

All daughters have secrets and all fathers have their mysteries, says Alain Braconnier. Following the success of M res et fils, his earlier book on mothers and sons, Braconnier continues his exploration of child-parent relations. He now decodes the often mute but equally fascinating relationship between daughters and their fathers. Through numerous examples he shows that this relationship ? whether or not it is a happy one ? always leaves a deep imprint. Today more than ever before in the past, fathers play a major role in their daughters? construction and development. Negatively or positively, the ties that bied a young woman to her father will shape her identity for the rest of her days and influence her life choices, both personal and professional. These ties are complex. What paternal qualities does a young girl need in order to fulfil herself? What sort of ties with her father can hieder her development as a woman? For fathers and daughters to fied a common ground and to understand each other a lifetime is sometimes needed. Braconnier aims to help fathers and daughters overcome their secrets and mysteries so they can learn to listen to each other and finally get to know each other. Aimed at a wide readership and illustrated with numerous examples, this highly accessible book explores an aspect of family relations that has been relatively neglected in the past. It carries a positive message and shows how to improve the dialogue between fathers and daughters. A physician, psychologist and psychoanalyst, Alain Braconnier teaches at the University of Paris-V and heads the Centre Philippe-Paumelle, in Paris. He is the author of M res et Fils, Le sexe des motions and Petit ou grand anxieux?

How should we manage the moments of frustration, anger and aggression in our daily lives? Stress seems to follow us everywhere. First considered the answer to stimulations in the environment, then as the stimulations themselves, stress is now defined as the reflection of the iedividual in his evolutionary context. By analyzing specific examples of the crazy days we sometimes have, the authors help us to detect the practical wiedom in our hectic everyday lives.

After sharing so many years together, men and women still don't know each other. Sometimes emotions unite them-- more often, they drive couples apart. How many misunderstandings, quarrels and conflicts could be avoided if only men and women would listen to each other Each sex has its own emotional culture. Let's take a look at the evidence: It istrue that men are quicker to anger and women are more subject to fits of anxiet y. Masculine pride is no more a myth than feminine intuition a fable. There are differences, so why not take them into account? We are no doubt destined to be surprised by the other sex throughout our lives. But should we really give up hope of one day seeing men and women speak the same language and finally come to understand one another? In the war of words, let us make room for the pleasures of conversation. In the search for Same, let us opt to discover the Other. Men and women are different. Let us listen, love and respect our differences in an effort to turn around the old Andre Malraux dictum that goes: "A successful couple is a work of art. There are five per century." Alain Braconnier is a psychiatrist. He is the author, along with Eric Albert, of Tout est dans la tete, also published by Editions Odile Jacob.